AT(&)T KEEPS ASKING ME how I like its internet service.
They ask using pop-ups that take over the screen I’m viewing — most often a news report.
The pop-ups are full screen; were they small corner pop-ups that could be easily be closed or opened in a new tab or window, I probably would not complain (as much).
They are not unobtrusive.
OVER THE YEARS I have reduced my dependency on Ma Bell. I took my cell phone business to another carrier and I took my home phone (landline) to a cell-phone provider via a ZTE WF7211 that converts cell service to work with landline phones (both hard wired and cordless). The only thing I lost by dumping AT(&)T was facsimile transfer. I rarely have need to send or receive a fax, and even if I do need to send/receive a fax, there are low-cost options for one-time transmissions.
There ARE other internet providers I can use.
Comcast’s Xfinity promises me faster download time for about the same price I am paying AT(&)T. The only “got’cha” with Comcast is that it wants me to rent a modem/router combo. I had a cable internet provider in Virginia and I bought my own modem/router. Comcast, when I checked, told me my cable device was too old to work with current Comcast gear.
I don’t want — nor intend — to rent a modem/router; I’ll buy my own. An Xfinity compatible modem/router at a local store is on sale for $60. That’s less than I would pay to rent a modem from Comcast.
The house in which I reside is fully cabled, so getting service into the home office is a no brainer.
There is another option: satellite dish. HughesNet2 This is a great option for anyone who can’t get other service, but I wonder: What about inclement weather?
Apparently weather is not a concern for others. My neighborhood has more satellite dishes for tv reception than Carter had Little Liver Pills3.
As long as internet providers are franchised, there is little hope for real, same type, competition. Things were supposed to open up, but that never happened.
For all that, there ARE alternatives to AT(&)T. The telco’s pop-ups are driving me to investigate those alternatives.
Links1. http://tinyurl.com/y8e647x8
(also see http://tinyurl.com/y9759h4c)
2. http://tinyurl.com/y9759h4c
3. http://tinyurl.com/y9uzodgy
PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.
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